Obrigado, Brazil!

I have been looking at the 2shots readership data and was so wonderfully surprised to find out that I have regular readers from (gasp!) Brazil.

I honestly don’t know anyone from Brazil… Except for the cardiologist named Bruno I met on the plane for my flight back to Asia (who is also into wine).

It is, however, one of the places Chad and I would want to go to at one point in our lives… See the Carnival, live like a cariocca, and just chill out in Rio with a cocktail in my hand while listening to samba.

Needless to say, I would like to dedicate this post as a means to be able to say, Obrigado Brazil!

With that in mind, I decided to research and attempt different cocktails using Brazilian ingredients (that I could find in our stores here). To be specific, I made a cocktail using coconut water, and another using Açai berry.

Admittedly, it was tough to find the 100% pure Açai berry juice in Manila, so I had to make do with one that is blended with other fruits (boo).

To make a glass of Açai Berry Sour, you will need:

1 jigger Vodka

2 jiggers Acai berry juice

1 jigger lemon juice

½ jigger simple syrup (1:1 ratio of water and sugar)

Ice

Use a cocktail shaker to mix all the ingredients together. Shake well. Strain and serve in a rock glass. Garnish with a lemon wheel.

Coconut water is the clear liquid inside young green coconuts. This beverage is found to aid in weight-loss, boost hydration (hence, it’s AWESOME for hangovers), facilitate digestion, reduce blood pressure, and restore electrolytes.

Use a cocktail shaker to mix the coconut water, white wine, and orange juice. Strain into a tumbler or wine glass with chopped fruits. Garnish with a fruit slice (or if you find the fruits in the glass attractive enough, you can skip this).

I hope you enjoy the cocktails. Saúde!

*In this particular experiment, I used Lipa, which is a sparkling coconut juice to add a little dimension. I decided to use it to top up the orange juice and white wine I have shaken and strained on the pineapples.